Eastern box turtle:The color pattern is extremely variable. The carapace is
predominately dark brown to black and keeled. It is most
commonly streaked with yellow. Though it can have red and
orange blotches as well. The plastron ranges from yellow to
black...with or without patterns. The skin is dark with
yellow to red blotches. Some males have a reddish ting
resembling sun burn. They usually have 4 toes on the hind
feet, but at times have 3...... Individuals at the edge of
their range frequently mate with other subspecies making a
positive identification almost impossible.

Three-toed box turtle:The carapace is typically a uniform olive
coloration...keeled, with the plastron a lighter shade.
However like Eastern box turtles there are many variations,
some carapaces are darker almost brown. Typically they have
very few yellow markings. The plastron can also have some
black blotches. The head neck and arms have yellow, red and
orange blotches. The males are usually more colorful....but
I have seen some females with brilliant colors. They are
typically more domed than Eastern box turtles with the
highest point to the rear of the shell. They usually have 3
toes on the hind feet...sometimes 4.

Gulf Coast box turtle:This is a larger species. It is elongated and the
carapace is keeled. The marginal scutes are flared. The
carapace is dark brown to black with dull scattered spots or
radiating lines. The plastron is deep brown to jet
black...with or without patterns. Males cane have white
patches on the head and in some cases the head may be almost
white.

Florida box turtle:The shell is relatively narrow and elongated. There are
usually streaks of thin light yellow radiating lines. The
plastron is usually a brownish yellow...at times with brown
streaks. The head and neck are dark brown with yellow
streaks. The male has brown eyes, unlike the other
subspecies where the male has red eyes.

Mexican box turtle:This species is rarely seen in the pet trade. The
carapace is domed and elongated. There is a hump on the 3'rd
vertebral scute. The carapace is brown with dark brown at
the sutures giving the appearance of an outline. The head
and neck are grey to brown with occasional light spotting on
the sides of the head.

Coahulian box turtle:Another species that's rare in the pet trade. The
carapace is elongated and very narrow. It is dark brown to
olive with most having a worm-like pattern of light yellow.
The plastron is yellow to dark occasionally with dark seams
and flecking. The head, neck and legs are a uniform grey to
olive and lack any patterned markings

Ornate box turtle:Ornate
box turtles are a small species (4-5 inches) with a flat,
domed shell and no central keel. The carapace and plastron
are dark brown or black with distinctive yellow striations.
As with all subspecies of the genus Terrapene, ornate box
turtles have a hinged plastron enabling it to encase its
head, limbs, and tail completely inside its shell. This box
turtle differs from the T. carolina group because it
has a defined pattern of radiating lines on its plastron.
The central keel on the carapace, seen in other North
American box turtles, is replaced by a yellow line.

Desert box
turtle:Very similar in appearance to T. o. ornata . A
main difference is the number of radiating lines on the
second pleural scute. Luteola has 11 to 14 radiating
lines on the 2nd pleural (Ernst and Barbour, 1989; Legler,
1960; Smith and Brodie, 1982) that are lighter in color than
Ornata which has 5-9 radiating lines.